U.S. patent number 4,056,333 [Application Number 05/635,656] was granted by the patent office on 1977-11-01 for intravenous feeding pump failure alarm system.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Valleylab. Invention is credited to Ingemar H. Lundquist.
United States Patent |
4,056,333 |
Lundquist |
November 1, 1977 |
Intravenous feeding pump failure alarm system
Abstract
The present invention relates to a failure alarm system for an
intravenous feeding pump in which the pumping force is secured by
the projection of a plunger into a chamber filled with the liquid
to be pumped, which plunger is encased in a tightly fitting sheath
of elastic material. In such a pump, actuation is secured by the
application of a force from an actuator to the end of the plunger
extending without the wall of a pumping chamber and the return
force is secured by the elasticity of the sheath. The actuator of
such a pump provides an actuator which can be selectively set to
provide an extended range of operations per unit of time and can be
modified to control the amount of projection into the pumping
chamber by the plunger. In such a combination means is provided by
the present invention for sensing the fact that there is a negative
pressure, or suction, in the system that is not balanced by the
in-flow of liquid, i.e., the amount of fluid delivered to the pump
for each operation is less than that required by the setting (thus
sensing when a supply is shut off, or less than the preset amount
of liquid is reaching the pump).
Inventors: |
Lundquist; Ingemar H. (Oakland,
CA) |
Assignee: |
Valleylab (Boulder,
CO)
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Family
ID: |
27049401 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/635,656 |
Filed: |
November 26, 1975 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
|
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488581 |
Jul 15, 1974 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
417/44.2; 417/9;
417/48; 604/67; 128/DIG.13; 417/43; 417/63; 604/152 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A61M
5/16854 (20130101); F04B 43/0081 (20130101); A61M
5/14216 (20130101); F04B 43/08 (20130101); Y10S
128/13 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A61M
5/142 (20060101); A61M 5/168 (20060101); F04B
43/00 (20060101); F04B 43/08 (20060101); F04B
021/00 (); A61M 005/16 (); F04B 049/10 () |
Field of
Search: |
;417/40,43,44,9,63,38,211.5 ;200/83
;128/214E,214C,214F,218A,DIG.12,DIG.13,DIG.1,1D |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Freeh; Willliam L.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Flehr, Hohbach, Test, Albritton
& Herbert
Parent Case Text
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 488,581 filed July
15, 1974 now abandoned.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. In combination with an intravenous feeding pump having:
a. pumping chamber having an inlet and an outlet,
b. inlet valve means disposed in the inlet and outlet valve means
disposed in the outlet,
c. a plunger serving as a pumping member projecting through the
wall of said chamber and having an outer end portion always
extending out of said chamber whereby the plunger can be
reciprocated between first and second positions in said
chamber,
d. resilient biasing means for returning said plunger to the first
position,
e. a pump actuator having means adapted to urge the outer end of
said plunger to the second position against the force of the
resilient biasing means and;
an alarm system comprising:
1. means for sensing failure of said plunger to return to its
inoperative position, and
2. signal means operated by said sensing means.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the signal means comprises:
(a) a sensing arm movable to one position by said actuator as the
actuator moves the plunger to said second position and movable to
another position by the force of said resilient biasing means;
(b) a switch held in one position by conjoint movement of the
sensing arm and the actuator means and movable to another position
when said sensing arm and said actuator means move independently of
each other and wherein the signal means operated by movement of
said switch to said another position.
3. In combination with an intravenous feeding pump having:
a. a pumping chamber,
b. an inlet into and an outlet from said pumping chamber and an
inlet valve disposed in the inlet and an outlet disposed in the
outlet,
c. a plunger serving as a pumping member projecting through the
wall of said chamber whereby the plunger can be pushed inwardly
into said chamber, and
d. an elastic sheath tightly enclosing the interior section of said
plunger, which sheath is sealed to the wall of said chamber to
provide an air-tight seal therewith, and
e. a pump actuator having a rocking arm effective to depress the
outer end of said plunger; an alarm system comprising:
1. means for sealing the inlet to said pumping chamber upon
termination of fluid flow into said inlet,
2. a sensing arm rocked to one position by said actuator arm as the
latter moves to project the plunger into said pumping chamber but
returned to the other position only by the force of the elastic
sheath,
3. a switch held in one position by the conjoint movement of the
auxiliary arm and the rocking arm but set to the other position by
the separation of the rocking arm and the sensing arm, and
4. signal means operated by the change in the condition of said
switch.
4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the inlet to said pumping
chamber is provided with a very soft and resilient tubular section
and a float in said section adapted to seal said inlet in the event
the supply of fluid to be pumped is exhausted.
5. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the switch is mounted upon one
of said arms, and the other of said arms carries a member adapted
to bear upon said switch.
6. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the sensing arm is rotatably
mounted on said rocking arm.
7. In an intravenous fluid delivery system for use with a container
of I.V. fluid, means forming a drip chamber, said drip chamber
having a wall with at least a portion of the same which is
transparent, said means forming a drip chamber including a
resilient lower member having an outlet formed therein, means
carried by the drip chamber adapted to form a connection to said
container whereby I.V. fluid can pass from the container into the
drip chamber, a ball-like member disposed within said drip chamber
and being capable of floating in said I.V. fluid, said ball-like
member being of a size so it is capable of closing said outlet when
drip chamber is empty of I.V. fluid and is disposed in a vertical
direction with the outlet extending downwardly, means forming a
pump chamber having an inlet and an outlet, inlet valve means
disposed in the inlet, outlet valve means disposed in the outlet,
means for connecting the outlet of the drip chamber to the inlet of
the pump chamber, means connecting the outlet to a patient, a
plunger serving as a pumping member, means for causing
reciprocatory movement of said plunger for causing movement of I.V.
fluid through said pump chamber from said inlet to said outlet of
said pump chamber and means for sensing when the reciprocatory
movement of said plunger ceases and for giving an alarm.
8. A system as in claim 7 together with lever arm means for moving
said plunger in at least one direction.
9. Apparatus as in claim 8 together with resilient means for moving
said plunger in a direction opposite said one direction.
10. A system as in claim 9 wherein said means for moving said
plunger in the opposite direction is of insufficient strength to
move said plunger in said opposite direction when greater than a
predetermined vacuum occurs in said pumping chamber.
11. In an alarm apparatus for use with an intravenous fluid
delivery system including a pump having a pumping chamber and an
inlet and an oulet in communication with the pumping chamber, inlet
valve means disposed in the inlet, outlet valve means disposed in
the outlet, a plunger serving as a pumping member, means for
causing reciprocatory movement of said plunger to cause movement of
intravenous fluid through said pumping chamber from the inlet
through said outlet and means for sensing when the reciprocatory
movement of said plunger ceases and for giving an alarm when such a
condition is sensed, said means for causing reciprocatory movement
including lever arm means for moving said plunger in at least one
direction, said means for sensing the reciprocatory movement of
said plunger including means for sensing the movement of said lever
arm, resilient means for moving said plunger in the opposite
direction, said resilient means being of insufficient strength to
return said plunger in the opposite direction when a vacuum
condition is created in said pumping chamber in excess of a
predetermined value.
12. In an alarm apparatus for use with an intravenous fluid
delivery system including a pump having a pumping chamber and an
inlet and an outlet in communication with the pumping chamber,
inlet valve means disposed in the inlet, outlet valve means
disposed in the outlet, a drip chamber in communication with the
inlet of the pumping chamber, said drip chamber having a wall with
at least a portion of the same being transparent, said means
forming a drip chamber including a resilient lower member having an
outler formed therein, a ball-like member disposed in the chamber
and being capable of floating in the intravenous fluid, said
ball-like member being capable of closing said oulet in said drip
chamber when said drip chamber is empty of intravenous fluid and is
vertically disposed with the outlet extending downwardly, a plunger
serving as a pumping member, means for causing reciprocatory
movement of said plunger to cause movement of intravenous fluid
through said pumping chamber from the inlet through said outlet and
means for sensing when the reciprocating movement of said plunger
ceases and for giving an alarm when such a condition is sensed.
13. Apparatus as in claim 12 wherein said resilient lower member is
of sufficient length so that it can be manually manipulated.
14. In a method for initiating an alarm for use with an intravenous
liquid delivery system including a pump and a drip chamber having
an inlet and an oulet in which the lower portion of the drip
chamber is defined by a deformable member having an oulet therein
and in which a ball capable of floating in the liquid is provided
in the drip chamber, connecting the drip chamber to a source of
intravenous liquid, repeatedly squeezing the deformable member
defining the drip chamber to cause intravenous liquid to enter into
the drip chamber and to at least partially fill the drip chamber so
that the ball floats in the liquid in the drip chamber and permits
the liquid to flow through the outlet to the pump, supplying
intravenous liquid to the patient by the use of the pump, creating
a vacuum condition in the pump when all of the liquid has been
dispensed from the drip chamber by permitting the ball to close off
the oulet in the drip chamber and initiating an alarm in response
to creating of the vacuum condition.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In recent years there has been considerable interest in intravenous
delivery pumps, particularly for the feeding of saline solutions,
whole blood, or the like, to a patient. For many years such
materials were fed to a patient only by the force of gravity which
necessitated the placing of a container containing the liquid for
delivery to a patient at a considerable elevation above the
patient. Such a procedure involves frequent checking by a competent
person to see that the apparatus was actually feeding the material
at the desired rate, as due to the small amount introduced per
minute there was frequent clogging of the delivery tube or needle
which is used to deliver the material into the vein of the patient.
Regulation of flow could only be secured by counting drops of fluid
in a predetermined period of time and then figuring the amount
delivered per minute. It was found that it was difficult to
maintain a regulated flow over a prolonged period of time. Within
the past few years, several efforts have been made to provide an
accurate pump which would positively deliver the feeding solution
to the patient. This necessitates a pump system of extreme accuracy
as well as one which will be completely sterile at all times. Such
pumps have the advantage that they do not require the placing of
the bottle of material to be fed to the patient at a considerable
distance above him. They should be very accurate in their delivery
and should be readily adjusted. The difficulties with pumps in the
past have been, for the most part, too, that they were subject to
slight variations in the quantity of material delivered, so that
absolute accuracy was still impossible. Also, they are rather
expensive to manufacture so that they could not be sold at a price
which would permit them to be used once and then thrown away, and
were difficult to disassemble, sterilize and reassemble under
sterile conditions. In my application, Ser. No. 431,753, filed Jan.
8, 1974 abandoned in favor of application Ser. No. 556,549 which
was abandoned in favor of application Ser. No. 704,540, I propose a
pump in which these difficulties have been removed by utilizing a
pump in which the pumping chamber was always full of the fluid to
be pumped and the pumping force was secured by the projection of a
plunger into the body of fluid -- the amount of projection being
controllable within certain limits and the number of operations per
unit of time being also adjustable. In this invention, the plunger
was enclosed in a tightly fitting sheath which prevented the
entrance of air between the sheath and the plunger, the sheath
being sealed to the wall of the pumping chamber so that an
air-tight seal or germ barrier was provided between the outside
atmosphere and the interior of the pumping chamber.
Associated with such a pump was a driver, such as that disclosed in
my patent, U.S. Pat. No. 3,798,982, patented Mar. 26, 1974, in
which an arm (97 in said patent) was rocked to depress the plunger
and project it into the interior of the pumping chamber. In this
patent it was explained how the number of times arm 97 was rocked
per unit of time was controlled by the operation of one of a number
of cams (51 to 72 in said patent) and the length of each stroke was
controlled by the setting of a number of setting members (set
screws 111 in said patent). The present invention relates to the
combination of the pump of said application, briefly described in
said patent, and the actuator of said patent modified as
hereinafter described. Such an alarm system is operative when any
of three conditions exist: (a) when the supply of material to the
pump is shut off or even partially closed, as by the accidental
closing of the manual clamp that is normally placed on the outlet
tube from the supply container material, the inlet tube is
disconnected from the source of supply, and the like; (b) when the
supply in the container is exhausted; or (c) when for some reason
(such as leakage in the pump, breakage of the sheath enclosing the
plunger, or the like) there is less fluid delivered to the pump
than specified by the actuator setting. The use of this alarm
system permits the operator to exchange bottles of material to be
fed to the patient without the admission of any air into the
pumping system, so all that is necessary is to remove the
conventional hollow needle at the inlet end of the inlet tube from
the rubber stopper of the bottle and its immediate insertion into
another.
OBJECTS
The primary object of the present invention is to provide an alarm
system for an intravenous feeding pump, which system is operated
under any condition which prevents the delivery of the set amount
of liquid per stroke from the pump and thus includes either the
delivery of less than that determined by the setting of the pump
actuator or the shut-off of the delivery from the supply vessel to
the pump.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an alarm
system for an intravenous pump in which suction is applied to the
pumping chamber to secure the replacement of material pumped
therefrom whenever anything happens to prevent the suction effect
from bringing liquid into the pumping chamber.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an alarm unit
which is effective to sense any failure of suction in the pumping
chamber to bring in an amount of fluid to fill the chamber
These and other objects of the present invention will be apparent
from the detailed specification which follows when taken in view of
the drawings which are a part hereof.
DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a pump of the type mentioned and
its actuator as modified by the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged detail of the drip chamber, i.e., the hollow
needle and related devices used to connect the pump and its supply
tube to the container containing the fluid to be pumped.
FIG. 3 shows a plan view of the operating arm and the associated
sensing member of the present invention, such as a view taken along
the planes indicated by the lines 3--3 of FIG. 4; and
FIG. 4 is a side view, partly in cross-section, showing
particularly the pump actuating arm and the sensing devices
associated therewith in position to drive a pump of the type
mentioned.
As best shown in FIG. 1, the pump actuator 10 of the present
invention preferably is adapted to be mounted on a suitable stand
11. The stand will be provided with a suitable holder for a bottle
12 to be used for intravenous feeding. Material from the bottle
with first flow into a bubble trap, or drip chamber, 13 and thence
into a delivery tube 14 to a pump 15 and thence through a tube 16
to a needle 17 to be inserted in the arm of a patient. The bubble
trap 13 of the present invention is modified from that which is
conventional in this type of equipment, as shown in FIG. 2. It
comprises a hollow needle 20 adapted to be inserted through the
rubber stopper of the bottle 12 of material to be fed to the
patient. This needle is provided with an enlarged shoulder 21, as
shown in FIG. 2, to limit the depth of insertion into the bottle
12. The needle and its shoulder 21 connect with an upper section 22
of the bubble trap, as shown. The needle 20 and upper section of
the bubble trap, or drip chamber, 22 are formed of a rigid
material, so that the needle can be inserted through the rubber
stopper and neither are readily deformable, either from atmospheric
pressure or manual manipulation by an operator. The lower end of
the bubble trap is enclosed within a tightly fitting tube 23 of
very soft and resilient material which is readily deformable by
manipulation. The lower end of this tube, or sheath, has a sloping
conical section 24 leading from the enlarged diameter of the upper
section 23 and the lower end 26 which is adapted to receive the
delivery tube 14 leading to the pump. A relatively soft ball 25 is
enclosed within the soft lower section 23 of the sheath, which ball
will float in a liquid to be fed to a patient and which is somewhat
larger than the lower section 26 which receives the delivery tube
14. In many devices of this kind, the delivery tube has an inner
diameter of about 1/8 inch, in which case the ball 25 would have a
diameter of about 1/4 inch and the flexible sheath would have a
diameter of about 1/2 inch.
The pump 15 comprises a pumping chamber 30 (see FIG. 4) with an
inlet 31 adapted to receive the delivery tube 14 and a suitable
valve for closing the inlet, not shown, but which is readily
understood by those skilled in the art, and which may take various
forms, one of which is included in the specification of the
copending application above-mentioned. The pumping displacement
force is secured by the actuation of a plunger 32 which extends
through the wall of the chamber 30, a portion of said plunger lying
inside chamber, and a portion lying to the outside thereof as shown
in FIG. 4. The inner end of the plunger 32 is enclosed in a tightly
embracing sheath 33, the outer end of which is sealed to the wall
of the pumping chamber 30, as by a cap 34 which encloses a major
portion of the outer end of the plunger 32. At the extreme outer
end of the plunger 32 is a smaller stem 35 which extends through an
opening in the cap 34. Thus, the cap serves to retain the plunger
in operating position but permits the stem 34 to extend outside
thereof so as to be subject to operation by the actuator
hereinafter mentioned.
The sheath 33 is formed of an elastic material, such as rubber,
with an elastic force sufficient to retract the plunger 32 after it
has been projected by the actuator into the pumping chamber from
the position shown in FIG. 4, and will operate with sufficient
force also to provide a suction within the chamber 30 sufficient to
operate the normally closed inlet valve, not shown, to draw fluid
to be pumped into the chamber 30. It will be understood that in
operation, the pump chamber 30 is completely filled with liquid
whereby the projection of the plunger 32 and its sheath 33 into the
chamber will displace an amount of fluid determined in direct
proportion to the amount of projection of the plunger into the
chamber. At the end of a stroke, an outlet valve, not shown, but
well understood to those skilled in the art, will close to prevent
the back-flow of pump fluid back into the pumping chamber 30. Upon
release of the actuating force through the arm 95 of the actuator,
elasticity of the rubber sheath 33 will force the plunger outwardly
to the limit of cap 34, thereby creating suction within the pump
chamber 30 to draw more fluid thereinto.
Aligned with the plunger 32 and mounted in the casing 40 of the
actuator, is a manually operated button 41. In the patent
mentioned, this button was a solid member. In the present invention
the button 41 comprises an outer cylindrical section 42; an inner
core 43, at the inner end of which is a shoulder, or buttress, 44,
the lower face of which abuts the stem 35 of the plunger and the
upper face of which engages the circular tip 102a of the operating
arm 97 (FIG. 4). The core 43, while embraced within the cylindrical
section 42 of the button 41, is freely slidable therein. It is
retained within the interior of the cylinder 42 by means of a
washer 45 and screw 46. As shown in FIG. 4, there is some play
between the inner core 43 and the outer section 42, so that the
outer section can be raised when arm 97 is raised without lifting
the inner core 43. A cap 47 fastened to the outer section 42
completes the button assembly.
The rocking of the operating arm 97 is described in complete detail
in the patent above-mentioned and it is therefore believed
unnecessary to be repeated here. Suffice to say that the arm is
rocked through a pin 90 mounted on an arm (88 in said patent) under
the control of a selected one of a number of cams in the actuator.
The arm 97 is privotally mounted on a stud 93 and is resiliently
returned to an inoperative position (which is shown in FIG. 4) by a
spring 96. When rocked by the actuator counterclockwise from the
position shown in FIG. 4, the circular tip 102 of the arm 97
operating upon the flange, or shoulder, 44, depresses the plunger
32 into the interior of the pumping chamber 30. When the driving
member is released by its cam, the spring 96 quickly rocks the arm
97 back to the inoperative position. Thereupon the circular tip 102
of the operating arm 97 (similar in shape to 102a shown in FIG. 4
and shown as 102 in FIG. 3 of the patent above-mentioned) will lift
the outer cylinder 42 of the button 41. Since the core 43 is
readily slidable within the cylindrical section 42, the core 43 and
shoulder 44 will not be lifted by the return of arm 97 to its
inoperative position but is raised by the force of the plunger 32
resulting from the elasticity of the sheath 33, if the suction
created by such movement is sufficient to bring additional fluid
into the pumping chamber 30. However, if, for any reason the supply
of fluid to the pumping chamber 30 was shut off, as by an
exhaustion of the supply of fluid from the container 12, or some
other cause restricting the inflow of material into the pump, the
suction so caused will prevent the raising of the plunger 32, for
the elasticity of the sheath is insufficient to overcome both the
force of gravity caused by the weight of the plunger and the force
of the suction so created. It is obvious that so long as fluid
flows from the supply container 12, the ball 25 will float within
the bubble chamber 13 and fluid will be permitted to flow into the
inlet tube 14. However, when that supply is exhausted, the ball 25
will settle to the bottom and will effectively seal the entrance to
tube 14 before the liquid level will reach the line at which the
ball seals the conical section 24 of the bubble chamber. It will be
understood that the ball 25, while sufficiently light to float in
liquid, is sufficiently heavy that only a minor portion of the ball
will be above fluid level. Once the ball 25 seats on the conical
section 24, a perfect seal is formed and thereafter no material can
flow into the inlet tube 14 and hence there will be a vacuum in
pumping chamber 30 which will prevent the return of the plunger 32
to its inoperative position.
While a number of means for sensing this situation could be
suggested, one of the most simple is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The
preferred embodiment of the sensing device comprises a secondary
arm 97a which is rotatably mounted on the actuator drive arm 97 by
any suitable means, such as pivot stud 60. It will be understood
that the arm 97a rocks freely on the arm 97. The arm 97a is
provided with a circular tip 102a which rests upon the flange 44 on
the opposite side of the core member 43 from the tip (102 in the
patent) on the arm 97 and underlies the outer casing 42 of the
button 41. The arm 97a carries a switch 61 having a control button
62. A flange 63 integral with the arm 97 overlies the button 62 and
normally will depress it. A pair of leads L-1 and L-2 lead to the
switch 61. It will be understood that if the alarm system is to
cause the lighting of a signal light, such as 64 (FIG. 4), or the
sounding of a buzzer or gong, switch 61 will normally be open and
will be closed to provide a circuit to the alarm element by the
separation of the flange 63 on arm 97 from the button 62 on the
switch 61. On the other hand, if it is desired that the sensing of
the condition above-mentioned is to stop operation of the pump,
such as by shutting off the motor 75 which drives the actuator
mechanism, the switch 61 would normally be closed and the
separation of the flange 63 from the button 62 would be operative
to open that circuit and thereby stop the motor. Another
alternative will do both, that is, stop the motor 75 and energize
an alarm, such as the light 64, in which case the switch 61 would
be of the double-throw type in which one circuit would be normally
open and the other normally closed and the separation of the flange
63 from the button 62 would reverse the setting. Such alternatives
will be obvious to those skilled in the art. At this point it can
be mentioned that the switch 61 will control the flow of power to
an alarm element, such as the light 64, through suitable leads
connecting the two, or in the alternative to the motor 75.
The operation of the device is believed obvious to those skilled in
the art, but perhaps should be briefly stated. The actuator 55,
when operating, will cause the rocking of the arm 97 through an
arc, the length of which is controlled by suitable mechanism within
the actuator as described in said patent, and at timed intervals,
again depending upon the setting of the actuator as described in my
aforesaid patent. Rocking of the arm 97 (counter-clockwise when
viewed in FIG. 4) will depress the plunger 32 of the pump through
the medium of the flange 44 on the core 43 of the button 41. When
normal operating conditions exist, the return of the arm 97
(clockwise in FIG. 4) release the pressure on the plunger 32
whereupon the elasticity of the sheath 33 will cause the plunger 32
to move to the retracted position as fast as the arm 97 is lifted.
In this case, the suction created by the withdrawal of the plunger
32 will draw into the pumping chamber 30 an amount of fluid equal
to that which has just been dicharged. So long as this condition
exists, the arm 97a will move in both directions simultaneously
with the arm 97, since the flange 63 overlying the switch 61 will
depress the arm 97a and the rise of the plunger 32 will lift the
flange 44 and core 43 of the manual button 41, thereby keeping the
button 62 of the switch in engagement with the flange 63. In this
condition, operation of the pump is continuous. However, if some
condition exists which prevents the return of the plunger 32 to its
retracted position as fast as the arm 97 is rocked back to its
inoperative position, the arm 97a will continue to ride on flange
44 of the core 43 of the control button 41, whereupon the flange 63
on operating arm 97, is lifted from engagement with the button 62
of the switch, thereby causing the opening or closing of the
switch, as the case may be. This situation will develop in the
event the supply of fluid 12 is exhausted as in that event the ball
65 of the bubble trap 13 will from a sealing engagement with the
conical section 24 of the soft and very flexible section of the
bubble trap. This creates a suction, or negative pressure, within
the supply tube 14 and pump chamber 30 which counteracts the
elasticity of the sheath 63 -- and the plunger 32 is therefore
unable to rise. The situation would also occur if the manual clamp
usually used in connection with a feed tube 14 is shut off
deliberately or accidentally, as the same situation would exist as
if the supply in bottle 12 were exhausted. The situation would also
exist in the event of some breakage or misoperation of the sheath
33, as that would cease to provide the elastic force necessary to
return the plunger to its inoperative position. In any of these
events, the signal, which may be a light 64, will be operated, or
if the other type of control is used, the pump actuator will cease
to operate. In such a situation, if the return of the plunger 32
were slower than the return of arm 97, there would be a flickering
of the alarm system unless a holding relay were provided in the
alarm circuit.
It should perhaps be explained that in the event the float 25
becomes seated on the conical section 24 of the highly flexible
section 23, no air can enter the tube 14 and hence cannot enter the
pumping chamber 30. The air trap 13 can then be removed from the
bottle 12 without danger of air entering the pump. When the needle
20 is inserted through the plug of a new bottle of material, there
will, of course, be some air trapped in the upper portion of the
bubble trap. Since the section 23 is highly resilient, or soft, a
little pressure by an operator on the cylindrical section above the
sealing ball 24 will start the flow of liquid -- the air in the
bubble trap flowing through the needle into the bottle. This
permits the escape of whatever air has entered the bubble trap 22
upwardly through the needle 20 into the upper portion of the bottle
12. After the bubble trap has a sufficient amount of liquid,
pressure on the resilient conical section 24 below the ball 25 will
lift the ball 25 out of its sealing position and liquid can flow
through the needle delivery tube 14 without the entrapment of any
air therein. Hence, no air will be delivered to the pumping chamber
30 and if it were, the air would rise in the pumping chamber and
effect the operation of the plunger 32. It is an inherent
characteristic of pumps of the type herein mentioned that the
entrapment of air in the pump chamber 30 will affect the operation
of the pump since the air is readily compressible while the liquid
is not. In that event, the pump operation will compress the air
which will expand when the actuating arm 97 returns to its
inoperative position, and if enough air is permitted to enter the
pumping chamber 30, the pump will cease to deliver any material at
all. This situation is immediately obvious to an observer and
indicates that the pump has been carelessly operated and should be
corrected immediately.
It will be understood that in place of a light 64, a jack could be
provided into which could be inserted the end of a signal circuit
which leads from the bed of the patient to the nurse's station of a
hospital, and many hospitals are now being equipped with such
signal devices.
It will also be understood that this invention is applicable to any
pump in which the plunger 32, or a piston in a piston pump, is
returned to its inoperative position by any resilient biasing
force, such as a spring.
It is obvious that many slight modifications can be made in the
preferred form of the present invention, such as the type of alarm
to be used and the like. Accordingly, the claims should be given an
interpretation commensurate with the wording.
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